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Identifying scat is one of the exciting components of a walking safariPhoto: Thomson Safaris staffer, Ali Riley

There are many signs guides use in the field to help them find animals; the nearest source of water, the flick of a tail from a tree-branch, or even the intensity of the heat of the day (and where it might drive animals to take cover).

But one of the most unignorable guideposts when looking for game is something animals leave behind on their travels: their scat.

Animal droppings tell an incredibly rich story; scat can tell an expert guide what animals have been through, how recently, even whether they’re eating enough lately.

The makeup of scat, as well as the consistency, is directly related to an animal’s diet and digestive process. Ruminants with multi-chambered stomachs leave behind hard, pellet-like scat. A carnivore, on the other hand, might have pieces of bone in its droppings.

The shape also tells you a lot; cat droppings, for example, tend to be teardrop shaped, pointed at one or both ends. Whether the animal has covered the scat gives you another clue (cats, for example, often do).

If you’re brave enough to touch it, you can learn just how long ago the animal passed by; warm scat means it was very recently, cold but soft scat means somewhat recently, and dry or crumbly scat means the animal may have passed by weeks or even months ago.

But the most important step is knowing what you’re on the lookout for (after all, some animals you may not WANT to chase after). Can you identify the following droppings?

Photo: Thomson Safaris guest, Ted Loebenberg

What can you see? It’s obviously a grazer (and it looks like it spends a lot of time grazing). It’s relatively contained, which rules out hippos (who spray their scat with their tails as a way of marking territory).

One thing you may not be able to see it in this picture: it’s very, very large…

Answer: Elephant

Elephant dung is recognizable because of the high plant-matter content…but mostly because there’s never just a LITTLE of it in any one place.

What about this next one?

Photo: Thomson Safaris guest, Ted Loebenberg

Hard, pellet-like, and compact. It can only be…

Answer: Antelope

If you look at the scale of this picture, with individual blades of grass much longer, even, than the pellets, you can infer that this came from a small antelope, possibly a dik-dik or klipspringer.

This next one might stump you:

Photo: Thomson Safaris guest, Ted Loebenberg

Let’s be honest, there’s only one thing you’re looking at here: it’s white?

Answer: Hyena

Hyenas have incredibly strong jaws and tough stomachs, which means they can eat an entire kill…including the bones. The calcium in the bones is what gives their scat its characteristic white color!

What can you see here:

Photo: cheetahupdates.blogspot.com

It’s compact, but not in pellets. There’s no visible plant matter, but there’s no visible traces of bones, either. Look at the very end; do you notice the pointed shape?

If you saw the photo credit, from cheetahupdates.blogspot.com, you might be able to guess…

Answer: Cheetah

Many cats—even big cats—bury their droppings, but cheetah will often leave them out in the open on top of lookout points, such as a well-situated termite mound, as a way of saying “this seat’s taken.”

Considering the nature of the marker, we’re happy to let the cheetahs have it…

Italians have pasta, Russians have borscht, and Americans have cheeseburgers and cherry pie; traditional foods can be found in every culture, and the 120+ ethnic and tribal groups living in Tanzania are no exception.

To a westerner, though, traditional eating for the Maasai may seem distinctly unorthodox. That’s because a traditional Maasai diet not only includes, but primarily relies upon, both cow’s milk and cow’s blood.

In Maasai culture, cattle are highly valued. The size of your herd indicates your status in the community, and accumulating animals—rather than consuming them—is common practice.

A Maasai herder tends his cattlePhoto taken by Thomson Safaris guest, Beverly Halliwell-Ross

That means that milk plays a huge role in a traditional Maasai diet. Drunk raw (or soured), drunk in tea, or turned into butter (which is especially important as a food for infants), milk is a part of almost every meal for Maasai herders.

Raw beef is also consumed, but much more fascinating (and possibly a little off-putting to the western palate) is the tradition of drinking raw blood, cooked blood, and blood-milk mixtures.

Blood is obtained by nicking the jugular artery of a cow precisely, allowing for blood-letting that doesn’t kill the animal. Mixed blood and milk is used as a ritual drink in special celebrations, or given to the sick.

Of course blood and milk aren’t the only things Maasai eat; the diet has always been supplemented with tubers, honey, and foraged plants that are most often used in soups and stews. More recently, Maasai have supplemented their diet with grains and maize-meal (and of course many modern Maasai live an urban lifestyle, with the more varied diet that entails). They still play an important role in many Maasai meals, however; for example, ugali (a thick maize-based porridge that serves as a staple food throughout Tanzania) is generally served with milk in Maasai households.

Though a diet made up of primarily animal proteins might sound like a heart attack waiting to happen, Maasai that consume a primarily traditional diet are emphatically healthy. Studies going as far back as the 1930s showed almost no diseases or cavities among Maasai tribesmen, and more recent studies on Maasai warriors showed no signs of heart disease, and cholesterol levels about half as high as the average American’s. The absence of negative heart effects is so pronounced, it’s led some researchers to posit that the traditional Maasai diet has led to very localized evolution in the Maasai people, such that they’re better-equipped to process animal fats. Interestingly, Maasai that have moved into cities, where they are eating diets with higher levels of sugar and grains than a traditional Maasai diet contains, show much higher rates of heart problems.

Today, dwindling herd sizes mean that blood plays a less important role in the Maasai diet than it once did. That may make it easier for a westerner to stomach the idea of a Maasai dinner…but it means missing out on one heck of an eating adventure.

Thomson Safaris

Founded in 1981 and based in Watertown Massachusetts, Thomson Safaris has been handcrafting trips-of-a-lifetime for over 35 years. Tanzania is our only destination, and has truly become our second home. We’re excited to be able to share it with you through stories and features on our blog.